Egyptian government attempts to suppress the media

New York, August 16, 2012--President Mohamed Morsi's government and
allies are pushing back against critical news coverage, suppressing critical
journalists and state-run newspapers, putting a journalist on trial, and
attacking three journalists on the street, according to news reports.

"This is a troubling backward step that Egypt's newly elected
President Mohamed Morsi should not be taking," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert
Mahoney. "We urge President Morsi to reverse this course immediately and
demonstrate his commitment to press freedom."

Several journalists have reported suppression at the state-run
newspaper Al-Akhbar. The newspaper
was among a number of prominent state-run dailies at which new editors-in-chief
had been appointed by the Egyptian upper house of parliament, also known as the
Shura Council, on August 7, according to news
reports. The Shura Council's move was seen as a way for
Morsi's government, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and
Justice Party, to place regime sympathizers in powerful positions to control
media coverage. Several private newspapers ran blank columns on August 9 in
protest of the appointments, news reports said.

Ibrahim Abdel Meguid, prominent weekly columnist for Al-Akhbar
and outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, told news outlets on Thursday
that his weekly column had been stopped, according to news
reports. The journalist said that Mohamed Hassan el-Banna, the paper's new
editor-in-chief, was trying to implement a policy that would remove from Al-Akhbar's roster any writers who were critical
of the Brotherhood, the reports said.

Youseef el-Qaeed, a prominent Egyptian writer and novelist who
frequently writes for Al-Akhbar, told the online news website Ahram
Online that the newspaper refused to publish his latest article that
criticized the Muslim Brotherhood for attacking journalists on August 12. El-Banna
denied banning al-Qaeed's article and said the daily had not received an
article from the journalist, according to news
reports.

Abla al-Roweini, a daily columnist for Al-Akhbar, told Ahram
Online that on August 9 the newspaper asked her to tone down her criticism
of the Muslim Brotherhood in her column. When al-Roweini refused, insisting
that the article run in its entirety, she received no response, and the next
day, Al-Akhbar was published without
her column, she told Ahram Online.

Local news outlets reported on
Wednesday that Al-Akhbar announced it would cancel the newspaper's daily
column called "Free Opinions." El-Qaeed and Abdel Meguid were both writers for the
column, which meant they could no longer write for the newspaper, the reports
said.

Meanwhile, the Cairo prosecutor's office said on Monday that Islam
Afifi, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dustour, would be tried
for insulting the president, according to news
reports. Afifi is charged with attempting to "undermine and destabilize"
Egypt by publishing "false information" about Morsi, according to news
reports. On August 11, a Cairo court ordered the confiscation of several
editions of Al-Dustour over a front-page editorial calling Morsi a
"fascist" and asking the army to "defend the civil state," news reports said. On
Sunday, a Cairo court issued a travel ban for him, news reports said. The
journalist's trial date is set for August 23.

On August 8, three journalists were attacked during a demonstration
by protesters with pro-Morsi posters, according to news reports. The
demonstrators were calling for private satellite broadcaster Al-Faraeen, known
for its anti-Morsi commentaries, to be taken off the air and were also protesting
what they called media corruption in front of Egypt's Media Production City, according
to news
reports. The Media Production City is a large complex on the outskirts of
Cairo where several media outlets have been built. News accounts reported that
the protesters were also preventing guests from entering the complex.

Protesters attacked the car of Youssef al-Hosiny, a radio and
television presenter who hosts a program on the private satellite broadcaster ONTV,
and tried to prevent him from entering the complex, al-Hosiny said on his show. News
accounts reported that the car of Amr Adeeb, a television host for the private
satellite broadcaster Orbit, was also attacked by protesters on the same night,
but did not offer details.

Khaled Salah, editor-in-chief of the private daily Youm7,
said protesters holding pro-Morsi banners threw stones at his car and smashed
his windows and mirrors as he tried to enter the complex, according to news
reports. Salah filed a formal complaint against the Freedom and Justice
Party and accused its leaders of
inciting the attack against him, the reports said.

In a statement on the Muslim Brotherhood's website, the
Freedom and Justice Party condemned the attacks on the journalists and denied
any involvement.